Ohio City steers toward a parking space solution: editorial

View full sizeScott Shaw, The Plain Dealer The parking lot at the West Side Market was crowded last Wednesday. As the market approaches its 100th birthday, the city of Cleveland and neighborhood group Ohio City Inc. are looking at ways to ease congestion and make the Market District more navigable for cars, bicycles and pedestrians. A comprehensive transit plan calls for merging two city-owned lots east of the market - and charging people to park there. Market patrons would get 90 minutes of free parking, but some vendors say that isn't enough time for their shoppers.

Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood has a high-end problem. Thanks to a wave of business startups, more residents and a thriving dining and nightlife scene, it is sometimes hard for residents, visitors and employees to find places to park. That's especially so on Saturdays around the neighborhood's anchor -- through good times and bad, for 100 years -- the West Side Market.

Working with stakeholders, city officials and a consulting firm, the community development group Ohio City Inc. has put together a comprehensive plan to address parking and related quality-of-life concerns with minimal disruption and -- this is important to residents -- no demolition. It proposes using existing lots at Lutheran Hospital and St. Ignatius High School evenings and on weekends. It suggests ways to help pedestrians, transit riders and bicyclists and to provide better directional signs for everyone. It starts a discussion about adding meters and permit parking and perhaps a parking deck to an existing surface lot.

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All are smart ideas. But the one that has stirred the most conversation calls for consolidating two city-owned lots behind the market and charging for their use. The revenue would pay for improvements to security and infrastructure.

Ohio City Inc. has suggested a validation system that would let market customers park free for 90 minutes; normal daytime rates would be $2 an hour with a $10 maximum. Some vendors would prefer two free hours. Especially for regulars, who have their routine, 90 minutes should be plenty of time. But a 30-minute disagreement shouldn't be a deal killer. Whatever the initial time limit, it can always be adjusted. The goal is to maximize churn on busy market days, and at least everyone seems on board with that.

Parking is often a touchy issue in vibrant neighborhoods. Ohio City stakeholders now have a thoughtful plan that can easily be adapted as revitalization continues.

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